Zohran Mamdani flipped the political narrative by clinching a landmark victory in the New York City mayoral election on Tuesday, November 4 (US time). In his winning speech, he directly turned to US President Donald Trump, who recently threatened to block federal funding for the Big Apple if the Indian-origin assemblyman won the race.
Zohran Mamdani to Donald Trump: NYC mayor election speech
Now that he has, Mamdani issued a stark warning and reminder in his victory speech. “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up!” he proclaimed after taking the stage.
The Queens politician firmly doubled down on his identity as an immigrant, as he presumably too pride in securing such a crucial political victory at a time when the Trump administration has severely amplified its immigration crackdown, with ICE agents employing brutal tactics to achieve the same.
“New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” he said.
On his path to soon being elected as the first Muslim and first Indian-American (and South Asian) mayor of New York City, Mamdani foregrounded, “I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. I refuse to apologise for any of this.”
Despite constantly being tormented over his pro-Palestinian views and being clubbed as an “antisemitic,” the mayor-elect affirmed that he was committed to fighting not only antisemitism, but also Islamophobia. “We will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism, where the more than 1 million Muslims know that they belong,” he said.
Mamdani began his winning speech with a quote by socialist icon Eugene V Debs: “The sun may have set over our city this evening, but as Eugene Debs once said, ‘I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.'”
The mayor-elect’s celebratory moment even alluded to Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech, as he said, “A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.”
Donald Trump responds to Mamdani’s NYC victory
Shortly after Mamdani was declared the winner of the NYC election, Trump issued a blunt reaction on his social media platform. “…AND SO IT BEGINS!” he wrote on Truth Social.
The POTUS had shared a wordy Truth Social rant ahead of Election Day, declaring “If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani” won the mayor race, it was “highly unlikely” that he would pitch in “Federal Funds” to his “beloved first home.”
In another post, he indirectly relied on the voice of “pollsters” to weigh in on why Mamdani was declared the winner in the NYC race. “‘TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to pollsters,” he shared on Truth Social.